Over the last 2 decades, the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM or QCM-D) has emerged as a versatile tool for investigating soft and solvated interfaces between solid surfaces and bulk liquids because it can provide a wealth of information about key structural and functional parameters of these interfaces. In this Feature, we offer QCM users a set of guidelines for interpretation and quantitative...

We present Quantum Cloning Machines (QCM) that transform N identical qubits into M > N identical copies and we prove that the fidelity (quality) of these copies is optimal. The connection between cloning and measurement is discussed in detail. When the number of clones M tends towards infinity, the fidelity of each clone tends towards the optimal fidelity that can be obtained by a measurement o...

In this paper, the design of a QCM sensor for liquid media measurements in vertical position is described. A rugged and low-cost proof holder has been designed, the cost of which is significantly lower than those of traditional commercial holders. The crystal is not replaceable but it can be easily cleaned. Its small volume permits to be used by dipping it in the liquid with the desired locatio...

Multichannel Monolithic Quartz Crystal Microbalance (MQCM), in which an array of electrodes is fabricated on a monolithic quartz wafer, is a very attractive approach for miniaturization using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems(MEMS) technology for high throughput chemical or biological sensor systems. In this paper, we demonstrate and validate a monolithic QCM sensor array for gas detections. The...

A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) biosensor with nanogram sensitivity has been constructed through a reasonable designing and biological processing of the piezoelectric quartz crystals. Due to its highly sensitivity, real time detection and low cost, the proposed QCM biosensor has a promising potential in blood coagulation research. In the current study, the QCM biosensor was used to determin...

In spite of being widely used for in liquid biosensing applications, sensitivity improvement of conventional (5-20MHz) quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors remains an unsolved challenging task. With the help of a new electronic characterization approach based on phase change measurements at a constant fixed frequency, a highly sensitive and versatile high fundamental frequency (HFF) QCM im...

MATERIALS AND METHODS Combined QCM-D and reflectometry measurements. Combined QCM-D and reflectometry measurements were performed in flow mode using a prototype instrument.1 Gold-coated QCM-D sensor crystals (Q-Sense AB, Sweden) were modified to meet the requirement for sensitive reflectometry measurements by deposition of a 100 nm layer of Ti followed by a 110 nm layer of SiO2 onto the sensor ...

An all digital interface, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) has been developed for the control and data sampling of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-based electronic nose. The ASIC is capable of measuring QCM resonant frequency between 0 – 11 MHz with a resolution of 1 Hz and +/1 Hz precision. The ASIC has been used to obtain measurements from polymer coated QCM sensors, in conj...

The design of a combined scanning electrochemical microscope-quartz crystal microbalance (SECM-QCM) with separate potential control of the tip and substrate is described. Both lateral and vertical tip movements near the substrate affect the QCM resonant frequency because of perturbations of the longitudinal and shear waves of the quartz crystal (QC) acoustic wave sensor. The SECM-QCM was used t...

A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is described, which is based on a torsional resonator, rather than a conventional thickness-shear resonator. Typical applications are measurements of film thickness in the coating industry and monitoring of biofouling. The torsional QCM is about a factor of 100 less sensitive than the conventional QCM. On the other hand, it can probe film thicknesses in the r...